US pediatricians argue for rights of gay parents
( 2002-02-04 14:59 ) (7 )

Homosexual couples raise children who are as well-adjusted as any and they deserve the same adoption rights as heterosexual couples, a US pediatrician's group said on Monday.

In its first policy statement on the issue of gay parenting and adoption, the American Academy of Pediatrics said studies showed that children raised by same-sex couples had no greater risk of becoming confused about their gender identity.

"There are more similarities than differences in parenting styles and attitudes (among) gay and non-gay parents," the group's Dr. Ellen Perrin said in a report backing up the policy published in this month's issue of the journal Pediatrics.

The policy statement called for the removal of legal obstacles to adoption by same-sex couples, which it said can unfairly deny children health care insurance and other benefits routinely enjoyed by children of heterosexual couples.

Only Florida, Mississippi and Utah have laws that effectively bar adoptions by same-sex couples, even when one partner is seeking to adopt his or her partner's own child. Court rulings in some other states have opposed such adoptions and are being challenged.

Vermont, in contrast, expressly gives same-sex couples the same adoption rights as a "family unit," and the state recently became the first to permit civil unions of gay couples.

"What you're seeing is an evolving landscape, but (adoption by gay couples) is becoming more accepted," said Patricia Logue of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which supports gay rights.

Other organizations representing psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers have come out in support of gay couple adoptions, mostly in briefs filed in court cases.

The number of U.S. children with at least one gay parent is estimated at between 1 million and 9 million, with most such children conceived in a previous heterosexual relationship. But an increasing number of same-sex parents conceive through donated sperm or with a surrogate mother.

There was some evidence that children of gay parents could face more teasing than children of heterosexual couples.

They were also slightly more willing to consider a same-sex partner for themselves but were no more likely to become homosexual.

Gay fathers tended to be stricter disciplinarians than heterosexual fathers, and were more likely to be actively involved with their children's lives, she wrote. Lesbian mothers tended to be more concerned with providing male role models for their children as compared to divorced heterosexual mothers.

In previous studies of 300 children of lesbian mothers, none showed evidence of gender identity confusion, or consistently engaged in cross-gender behavior, Perrin wrote.

The report also said the earlier a child found out about a parent's homosexuality, the better they adjusted.